I mentioned previously that I have just returned from a French trip, and that after many, many years of travelling all over the world I did the one thing that I thought I would never do. I left my passport in the hotel safe.
I didn’t realise that this had happened until my train pulled into Paris two and a half hours away. You know that sinking feeling as you realise. I went cold, and then instantly hot when I realised. Luckily I was able to get in touch with the hotel and they found our passports in the safe. However we did have a four hour round trip and another £200 to pay for the mistake! It’s definitely not a mistake I will make again in a hurry.
Note to self – check everything. This advice also goes to you in your CIPS exams. Check you have answered every question (especially if you have answered them out of order). This might seem obvious but I have had a number of students over the years tell me that they completely missed a question because of this.
Check that you have properly answered the question, read what you have written and add things in if you need to. This is important as there is a tendency to answer what you want the question to be, not what it actually is.
Check that you have addressed the context. Remember marks will be allocated to the context of the question (e.g. applied to a procurement department of an organisation of your choice). To gain the highest marks you MUST address context, and if there is a case scenario you must refer back to this.
Finally check you have thoroughly explained your points, your exam is like a job interview – you need to show the examiner everything you know.
Never leave early, utilise the time to make sure you have checked everything